WENDY DAVIS DEFEATS SEN. KIM BRIMER AS DEMS CONTINUE TO MAKE GAINS UNDER THE DOME

Democrats will have runoff opportunity to pick up a second Senate seat; Juan Garcia loses re-election bid despite spending $1 million to defend his seat.

As the clock strikes midnight on
a historic Election Day, here are some of the biggest storylines coming out of
the contests here in Texas:

-- In the Texas Senate, Democrats
have gained one seat and are in a runoff for a second seat. With all precincts
now counted, former Fort Worth Councilwoman Wendy Davis has defeated Sen.
Kim Brimer (R-Fort Worth) by nearly 7,000 seats for the SD 10
seat.

Democrat Chris Bell,
meanwhile, was the leading vote-getter in the SD 17 special election, garnering
38.4 percent of the vote with three precincts still outstanding. He will be
joined by Republican Joan Huffman in a runoff. She finished second with
26.2 percent of the vote. Stalking horse candidate Stephanie Simmons came
in third with 13.8 percent.

-- According to the Secretary of
State’s Web site, HD 105 Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (R-Irving) has
squeaked out a 25-vote victory over underfunded challenger Bob Romano. As
we wrote earlier in the evening, provisional votes in this race will be closely
scrutinized.